Mixed ADP private employment data released on Thursday further diminished the U.S. Dollar (CURRENCY:USD) outlook, which slumped lower against Japanese Yen today in Asian trade. Traders adopted caution ahead of U.S. employment data to be released later today.
USD dips against Yen
The Japanese yen continues to draw support from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s remarks of delay in a sales tax hike on account of ongoing weakness in the economy. USD/JPY (USDJPY) had shed 0.07% to 108.78 during Asian trade. The greenback maintained resilience against the Euro though as EUR/USD (EURUSD) slipped 0.03% to 1.1150 after the European Central Bank left rates unchanged. GBP/USD added 0.03% to 1.4427 during the day.
Market momentum
Solid gains added by Wall Street overnight helped Asian markets to record a positive session today. All major indices closed higher as traders anticipate U.S. jobs data to show improvement. Australia ASX All Ordinaries soared 0.72% to 5,392.50, followed by Nikkei 225 (INDEXNIKKEI:NI225) that rose 0.48% to 16,642.23.
All significant indices opened higher in Europe as ECB acted in line with expectations. Traders remain tuned to service purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for May to gauge the direction of the UK economy. FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) and DAX (INDEXDB:DAX) gained 1.01% and 0.67% to 6,247.94 and 10,276.49 respectively.
Brent Crude is holding the $50 mark even after the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries failed to reach an agreement over production cuts. West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil jumped 0.33% to $49.33 during the session. iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return (NYSEARCA:OIL) prices reclaimed seven-month highs after OPEC ministers mutually agreed that global oil markets are heading towards improvement.
Societe Generale SA oil-market analyst, Michael Wittner, said that no action from OPEC comes as no surprise to the market. A separate report from U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that U.S. crude reserves dipped 1.37 million barrels to 535.7 million during last week.